1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transaction processing apparatus for processing transaction data by updating various types of files according to data which is input when transactions occur.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional transaction processing apparatus, file processing programs I, II, III, . . . are provided for transactions 11a, 11b, 11c, . . . , as shown in FIG. 17. A set of files 12 comprises a plurality of files A, B, . . . When transactions occur, update programs (A1, A2, . . . ) for file A and update programs (B1, B3, . . . ) for file B and the like must be designed for every type of transaction. For this reason, when the types of transactions are numerous, the design of the system is cumbersome. More specifically, when a system engineer designs a system (programs) in response to a user's demand, he must design programs individually, depending on the types of transactions such as order acceptance, sales, order, and purchase. This is time consuming and requires programming skill.
Further, even after the system is designed, minor amendments may be required for the programs due to a user's request during operation of the system. In this case, a system engineer must correct the program. This correction is time consuming and requires skill, even if it is only a minor amendment. Furthermore, a system design that a user demands cannot always be established due to an insufficient ability of a system engineer. This defect may be derived from a computer itself. More specifically, a conventional office computer is usually a general purpose computer. Therefore, every processing may theoretically be executed by properly designing the programs to deal with the particular processings. In other words, a conventional office computer does not serve as a dedicated transaction apparatus.
Further, the system should be designed to deal with a conventional account book such as a general ledger, a subsidiary ledger, a subsidiary book and the like. More specifically, the forms of bookkeeping and the contents are different depending on industrial sectors and the particular books. Conventionally, accounts such as "ordinary savings", "debt", "sales", "accounts payable" and the like are considered to be a single account and are made to be correspondent to an account such as "cash" and the like.
However, the account such as "cash" itself serves as a single transaction unit, but an account such as "debt" itself does not serve as a single transaction unit. More specifically, the account such as "debt" and the like does not serve as a single transaction unit without having a "client" associated therewith. In the prior art, "debt" and "cash", for example, are treated and sorted as identical accounts and then written in a book such as a general ledger. Therefore, an amount for a single transaction unit cannot be recognized only from the contents written in the general ledger.